I got Multiple Myeloma several years ago and after 4 months of chemo I needed a Blood Stem Cell transplant (a.k.a bone marrow transplant). I was living in in the Local Hope Lodge (run by the American Cancer Society) for three weeks while I received treatment (yes.. a bone marrow transplant can actually be an outpatient procedure).

Everyday, I would go the hospital to get treatment. I got sick at one point and needed to go inpatient for 6 days. To help me pass the time in both places, I brought my Xbox 360. The internet was slow and/or spotty. It also required a browser to agree to terms. Needless to say, I didn't play any online games as I hoped but I was able to play a backlog of single player games I saved for this occasion.

Multiple Myeloma has no cure (yet). It is going to reoccur and I will need another stem cell transplant. I have enough cells stored for two more transplants and then my time will be up. These policies would prevent me from using the Xbox One while I get treatment.

What about Children's Hospitals? Are Kids no longer allowed to play video games to pass the time while getting treatment? Is the Child's Play charity effectively dead?

I strongly urge Microsoft to makes exceptions to scenarios like this.

If the answer is sorry no exceptions then I will have to skip the Xbox One as much as it pains me to do so. I have been a very loyal customer and have spent thousands of dollars on games and movies for Xbox.

I understand the business decisions. I really do. I understand you have the 24-hour rule so that games can actually sold back. I expect it is a concession you had to win from the publishers.

One solution I propose is that you give me the consumer a choice. I give up the right to resell my game and in exchange you have that game not check every 24 hours or let me leave the disc in to verify that I still own it. I mean I am use to that for my XBLA games and steam why not let me do it for retail games?

There is no logic in the false claim that used games are bad for the gaming industry. Did the used records/used tapes/used CD stores destroy the music industry? Did libraries destroy the book industry? I can see an onslaught of legal challenges to this attempt to usurp the rights of consumers. This is going to be a costly business move for Microsoft, especially if Sony decides not to implement the same restrictions. I don't care how much someone may hate Sony, the choice between the two will be a no brainer.

This article missed a ton of the benefits of this system. Being able to play my games on *any* Xbox even at a friend's house without a disc, having guests and family able to play my games on my Xbox, and being able to share my games with up to 10 family members at once are all huge value adds.

The latter two are already possible on current-gen consoles. You can even bring the disc to a friend's house and *gasp* leave it there for a while!

Internet connection required to play single player game? Epic Fail. I have never purchased (or pirated) a game with this requirement. And never will. Baked into the system itself? Well Microsoft ensured I will remain a PC gamer for a long time.

Out of curiosity (legitimately), if you have a current console system - do you always leave it connected / online? Basically from a practicality standpoint will it make any difference? I'm certainly not deriding your decision to pass based on principal, totally cool. I just know for me that my system is just always connected by default and I don't really even think about it. I'm wondering if this is similar with 98% of people or if many actually have systems not connected frequently.

A name like Alyeska implies he's Alaskan, like me. Outside of major towns/cities here, the community tends to be on satellite internet through a building like the main school. You can have an offline game console in your house, but you use the school desktops or bring a laptop to use the school wifi if you want internet. Always-on internet isn't possible in those communities. Also, for soldiers traveling with game consoles, they won't have constant internet in their living quarters. Heck, even living in the biggest city in Alaska, my area of the city tops out at 1 Mbps for internet (if I don't want to have to deal with expensive cable modem with a usage limit under 50 GB/month, vs the unlimited DSL, and you don't want a usage limit on a console that downloads large games and updates), and MS stated the XBONE wants 1.5 Mbps. Plenty of land area in the US doesn't have broadband that fast available still, and even those that do may not be so stable. At least Steam lets me go into Offline mode when I know I need to take it away from the internet, and will run indefinitely in that mode.

Used game sales are critical to gamers who might be on the fence or just not that passionate about a particular game. I can give a personal example: I was curious about Arkham Asylum, but I really wasn't willing to pay full price for something that I could've ended up not liking. I found it used for $30, played it, LOVED it, and pre-ordered Arkham City (new, obv.) when those were available.

The flip side of my story: What if the gamer who sold the copy of the game I purchased was the one who bought it new, took it home, hated it, and wanted it out of the house? The used market offers dissatisfied gamers at least some recourse to recoup costs for a game that they don't enjoy.

Out of curiosity, how do these games function with PC games with Steam?

Yes but that's $20 the publishers didn't get and $20 you gave to an industry that they have previously said is worse than piracy problem.

Publishers have repeatedly attempted to kill second hand market for years now. They obviously don't quite share your view that second hand can and do benefit the market. Even the most casual google searching will get you plenty of articles dating back to 2010 if not earlier.

Just because publishers don't share our view that 2nd hand games benefit the market, doesn't make it true. there have been a couple games I only paid full $60 because I was confident I could sell them back to amazon for $35 when I was done if I finished within a reasonable time frame. Without the ability to sell the game I bought new, I wouldn't have bought it and instead been perfectly fine waiting a year when the game was $20 instead (the price point I usually wait to buy games at).

Even not counting full $60 games, by the time games get to my usual price point of $20, they aren't that much cheaper used. Therefore, I tend to buy them new (due to amazon prime free shipping) but I do intend to recoup the cost back when I'm done (even if it's $5), and not having that option will make me less likely to to get more new games.

It's unlikely sony will have this type of DRM, mostly because they won't have the infrastructure. This DRM scheme will probably cause less XB1 consoles to be sold, but will help get them more exclusives (which is the primary reason they are doing it).

Wow! What a monumentally stupid decision about the internet connection. What about all the US Servicemembers who enjoy playing games, but don't have internet access. I know many folks onboard ships or on deployment to places like Afghanistan who enjoy unwinding playing games with their buddies. The used game thing... If they didn't charge $60 for a new game, this wouldn't be as bad. I rarely buy new games anymore and instead wait until they've been out a few months and hit the slump and go on sale for half price.

What may seem like a series of stupid decisions (Kin, forced-Metro in Windows 8, Windows RT, Office 13 UI changes, Surface, Xbox One) are actually part of a keen strategy by Ballmer to make the company look like it is ran by an total idiot to put their competitors off-guard. Once everyone thinks Ballmer has run the company into the ground he'll unleash an army of cybernetic ninjas that will take over Apple and Sony. You'll see who the idiot is then, now won't you?

It's a pity Microsoft is causing many people to keep a closer eye on the PS4, believing it may be the system that puts them first and looks out for their best interests. Apparently these people need to do some research on Sony.

Honestly i'd be happy to give up my resell/give options (comparable to steam) if I had any faith in MS or publishers to actually drop the price of games. I have this weird feeling all of this will happen and we will see $70/title games in late 2014.

I would have a little faith. Why? Because the work Steam did showing how profitable the long tail is when you put up regular sales. It would be very easy for a smart bean counter at MS or EA to look at that model and say "we could be making more money by selling cheaper games to more people". And since those companies are publicly traded, they are nearly legally obligated to at least try. Otherwise they have failed at maximizing shareholder value, which is their legal mandate.

Even look at steam right now. Borderlands 2 a year old game is $40, skyrim is still $30, Bioshock Infinate is $60, Rome total war $60. Just about every other AAA title is $60. Publishers are even running up prices on steam. Sure there are good sales but those are mostly on back catalogs or games that are lagging in sales.

Honestly the best part of Steam is the Democratization of game publishing and and I think it is great for that. Lately 8/10 hours of gameplay for me is on an indy game.

You miss a key factor there. While indie gaming and smaller games definitely benefit, don't forget the legendary Steam sales where you can get AAA games for sometimes even 80% off. They aren't priced that way all the time, they want to capture the people that will pay retail. But by doing regular sales, they also capture price-sensitive gamers that are willing to wait. That is the power of the Steam pricing model, not the normal price.

When it comes to used game outlets, isn't MS cutting out the small business? What if someone has a small used game business not on the Microsoft "preferred" reseller list. Does that essentially mean that you are required to sell to the select few that MS deems "preferred"? Isn't that illegal ?

When it comes to used game outlets, isn't MS cutting out the small business? What if someone has a small used game business not on the Microsoft "preferred" reseller list. Does that essentially mean that you are required to sell to the select few that MS deems "preferred"? Isn't that illegal ?

We don't know yet, but I'm betting it's a lot like setting up your account to make Windows 8 games. Largely automated, and mostly to get you into the system with the information they need. Anything else would not make sense, and give rise to anti-trust concerns.

Yes but that's $20 the publishers didn't get and $20 you gave to an industry that they have previously said is worse than piracy problem.

Publishers have repeatedly attempted to kill second hand market for years now. They obviously don't quite share your view that second hand can and do benefit the market. Even the most casual google searching will get you plenty of articles dating back to 2010 if not earlier.

Just because publishers don't share our view that 2nd hand games benefit the market, doesn't make it true. there have been a couple games I only paid full $60 because I was confident I could sell them back to amazon for $35 when I was done if I finished within a reasonable time frame. Without the ability to sell the game I bought new, I wouldn't have bought it and instead been perfectly fine waiting a year when the game was $20 instead (the price point I usually wait to buy games at).

Even not counting full $60 games, by the time games get to my usual price point of $20, they aren't that much cheaper used. Therefore, I tend to buy them new (due to amazon prime free shipping) but I do intend to recoup the cost back when I'm done (even if it's $5), and not having that option will make me less likely to to get more new games.

That's sort of what I'm saying with my previous post.

Publishers do not recognise that used games can benefit the market because it won't explicitly show up as black number in their accounting book for that quarter.

It's unlikely sony will have this type of DRM, mostly because they won't have the infrastructure. This DRM scheme will probably cause less XB1 consoles to be sold, but will help get them more exclusives (which is the primary reason they are doing it).

The exclusives will really depend on more factors than just DRMs. It will certainly help but it may also kill the early adopters; especially if PS4 launches at the same time (and PS4 is received more positively). Not only that, development costs and licencing fee will matter as well.

I realize some will hate the new system but I think being able to share with your family is very cool. I never trade in used games and always bought new so the parties that deserved the money got it (sometimes I would wait to buy a game until it drop to about $20 but once you have a back log that is fine). But being able to share with my family is very nice. More than a fair trade as far as I am concern and a much better deal than steam. Now the real trick will be managing game prices so that older games drop appropriately. I also like the download or disk purchase option and my system is always online. So it seems like a pretty good deal to me. I am still going to wait and see about the system though - I want quiet and reliable so I am not going to be a day one buyer.

It's a pity Microsoft is causing many people to keep a closer eye on the PS4, believing it may be the system that puts them first and looks out for their best interests. Apparently these people need to do some research on Sony.

We can't, Sony has been totally quiet about PS4. We will see what they have to say when they say it.

With all these crazy restrictions, is gaming, or at least owning Xbox, really worth it? I remember my internet connection going down once for 3 wks due to isp problems. I couldn't play any game at that time (Windows live on PC). There is just too much other entertainment, and other gaming consoles (for now), to waste time on this nonsense.

"We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers. Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games."

This is 100% misdirection.

Imagine a daycare worker saying, "I can't help what the children did with the gun I left in the playroom. You should be thankful I'm not charging you for the bullets!"

Steam on the PC and the XBO are different scenarios. Let's go over why:

Buying in. People owned PCs before Steam existed and don't pay Valve a penny to buy one. XBO requires you fork over $400 (or whatever the price is), the majority of which goes to MS.

Competition. Don't like Steam or how it works? Buy game from anywhere else. Don't like how MS runs their system? $400 paperweight. Competition has several secondary effects, like discounting, keeping business honest, etc. Steam has those; MS won't.

Sales. AAA, multi-million seller, Game-of-the-Year winners go on sale regularly. We know how Steam works with its pricing. Microsoft? Don't yet know. We have seen when the same game is sold digitally and brick-and-mortar that the digital version does not get comparable sales.

Trust. We trust Steam because we've seen how it works. MS has not earned our trust. And being our only XBO option, it's an easy position to abuse.

Offline usability. Your PC works perfectly fine without an internet connection. Steam will still play your installed games. XBO goes dead in 24 hours (if it won't play games, it's dead to me).

Value-added or taken away. Steam's introduction and existence does nothing to take away from our computer gaming experience. Some of us even like its features; the rest can ignore it. XBO and its online DRM are a major step backwards from the 360 in every ownership aspect.

So while they are both digital distribution platforms, Steam and XBO are very different beasts.

Things I'm looking forward to Steam doing, since PC gaming will save us all:* Allowing my family access to my game catalogue for free.* Allowing me to give a game I bought to a friend when I'm done with it.* Allowing me to re-sell games I don't want anymore.* Guaranteeing their DRM servers will be up forevermore so I'll never lose anything.* Allowing me to rent games.

Like, okay, the landscape is changing. I get it and I see why it's unpleasant. On the other hand people seem to LOVE Steam despite all of the above points being things that will literally never happen.

It's a pity Microsoft is causing many people to keep a closer eye on the PS4, believing it may be the system that puts them first and looks out for their best interests. Apparently these people need to do some research on Sony.

We can't, Sony has been totally quiet about PS4. We will see what they have to say when they say it.

Haha, Sony has zero incentive to say anything at all about the PS4 while MS is making the XBOne sound so bad. In fact, their last bit of marketing literally said and showed nothing - just a handful of worthless images in a video that hurt your eyes to watch.

I guess I will be picking up a WiiU this gen and sticking with my PC. Looks like we will not get the option to rent games. This is a big deal for me as I'm not going to drop 60 bucks or more on a games that I cant try before I buy. At least on the PC I can pick up games cheap when Steam has a sale.and if they suck well I have only lost a few dollars.

Retail prices for new games have not been announced. These changes could very well lead to cheaper games (since publishers get a piece of the used game market), as well as Steam-like sales. I think that's the direction it should go, and I'm excited to see what happens.

It's a pity Microsoft is causing many people to keep a closer eye on the PS4, believing it may be the system that puts them first and looks out for their best interests. Apparently these people need to do some research on Sony.

We can't, Sony has been totally quiet about PS4. We will see what they have to say when they say it.

Haha, Sony has zero incentive to say anything at all about the PS4 while MS is making the XBOne sound so bad. In fact, their last bit of marketing literally said and showed nothing - just a handful of worthless images in a video that hurt your eyes to watch.

I doubt that they can say nothing since media will start disassembling everything and come up with their own rumours.

I guess I will be picking up a WiiU this gen and sticking with my PC. Looks like we will not get the option to rent games. This is a big deal for me as I'm not going to drop 60 bucks or more on a games that I cant try before I buy. At least on the PC I can pick up games cheap when Steam has a sale.and if they suck well I have only lost a few dollars.

Retail prices for new games have not been announced. These changes could very well lead to cheaper games (since publishers get a piece of the used game market), as well as Steam-like sales. I think that's the direction it should go, and I'm excited to see what happens.

Do you honestly think they are going to drop prices? When Bobby Kocktick, the devil himself bragged that he was shafting PC gamers by upping the price to 60 simply to get more profit. And then what did Ubisoft and EA do? They copied Activision. Jacked PC prices purely as a profit skim. I seriously doubt they will ever reduce the price on games in a market without rentals or resale.

Lovely, Microsoft is taking the stance. Dont blame us blame the publishers. We just created the DRM, they are the ones that used it.

I can see how this is going to happen... EA bans used games but Activition blacks them out for 12 months, and ubisoft has a third entirely more convoluted policy where they only ban used sales on A List titles. In effect Consumer confusion mounts and everyone gets angry.

thanks microsoft thanks for keeping the customer first. .. oh wait you did...your customer is the game publishers and the developers. I forgot that. ...... thanks for reminding me of that.

Lovely, Microsoft is taking the stance. Dont blame us blame the publishers. We just created the DRM, they are the ones that used it.

I can see how this is going to happen... EA bans used games but Activition blacks them out for 12 months, and ubisoft has a third entirely more convoluted policy where they only ban used sales on A List titles. In effect Consumer confusion mounts and everyone gets angry.

thanks microsoft thanks for keeping the customer first. .. oh wait you did...your customer is the game publishers and the developers. I forgot that. ...... thanks for reminding me of that.

time to look for the alternatives.

Scenario: Microsoft elects not to 'play ball' with AAA devs but Sony does.

At the end of the day the media/content creators are driving a DRM agenda. The hardware/platform providers are certainly providing for their developer customers, but what do you expect them to do instead?

Also, what alternatives did you have in mind? PC gaming via Steam? Somebody's app store? Those are all *more* restrictive than the stuff laid out for Xbone.

At the end of the day the media/content creators are driving a DRM agenda. The hardware/platform providers are certainly providing for their developer customers, but what do you expect them to do instead?

Also, what alternatives did you have in mind? PC gaming via Steam? Somebody's app store? Those are all *more* restrictive than the stuff laid out for Xbone.

Which is exactly why we're going to see something out of Sony as well. Maybe Sony lets you resell and trade your discs, but forces you to still have the disc in, like the PS3 and XBox. Maybe something else entirely. But as long as the publishers are clamoring for it, at least one of the console makers will offer it. And if the offerings tank due to it, fortunately the publishers can opt to turn it off on the XBone. (not that it will tank...)

Also, what alternatives did you have in mind? PC gaming via Steam? Somebody's app store? Those are all *more* restrictive than the stuff laid out for Xbone.

I dont know about you, but I am content of washing my hands of gaming and picking up a different hobby. Ham Radio, RC Airplanes, Photography, Gardening, cycling, maybe fishing. Those of the alternatives I have in mind. Kind of like giving Media a Big Middle Finger and just turning off the TV. Maybe I should do that anyways, any of those hobbies will do wonders to lower my stress levels, allow me to be creative and enrich my life in many other ways.

I dont have to game. I also imagine others will see it that way too. I have no interest in managing the license requirements of my game. Oh want to borrow Halo? oh wait..whats your gamertag? wait... do I have the disk? Oh screw it... Lets just get a beer together. Ever play darts?

I guess I will be picking up a WiiU this gen and sticking with my PC. Looks like we will not get the option to rent games. This is a big deal for me as I'm not going to drop 60 bucks or more on a games that I cant try before I buy. At least on the PC I can pick up games cheap when Steam has a sale.and if they suck well I have only lost a few dollars.

Retail prices for new games have not been announced. These changes could very well lead to cheaper games (since publishers get a piece of the used game market), as well as Steam-like sales. I think that's the direction it should go, and I'm excited to see what happens.

If this works out to be the case then that's something I could deal with.

But right now There are 5 people in my house hold. Myself and 3 sons love to game and my wife plays sometimes. Having a family full of gamers is not cheap! I cant buy 5 different games when ever something new comes out. This is why we chose to rent games and when there is a price drop or I can pick a used games that my kids really want I jump on it.

This system that MS has set up has in one fell swoop killed gaming as we know it for my Family. And this is why I will not support the XBOX ONE or any other system that chooses to go down this road.

Welp, I haven't read through the comments, but I'll say this: I was wrong. I thought Microsoft would have a more intelligent way of doing things vis a vis used games, which is to say I thought they'd have a system where the person holding the disc could, once they popped it in, use it, and all previous owners would lose access to said game until they put a disc back in that became registered to their console. I predicted as much several times, and it turns out the reality is worse.

I don't buy or sell used games, but I do respect the hell out of the right of people to do so, and this impacts my desire to buy one rather severely. I like buying games digitally, and have zero problem with that, but a physical disc is still something that should be treated like, well, a physical disc. Game studios shouldn't have the ability to say "nope, no resales". I should be able to make that decision, to either have the ability to resell/loan, or make the decision to buy digital.

I don't buy PC games on disc. I use Steam sales. and you know what? I buy more games. If Microsoft and the studios wanted to drive me to non-transferable games on console, all they had to do was make it like Steam. Good sales, easy to add a new device. About the only good news is the ability to "share" with family members.

But as I started off with, what I really came here to say was that I made a prediction, and I was wrong. It's a shame, Microsoft. I had some hope for you.